Moonfire
by milkmoth
Summary: When Sakura and Kakashi accept a transport mission, political and sexual tension create... well, fireworks. Welcome to Rice's Moonfire Festival, where nothing is as it seems. Previously titled The Lucid Princess. KakaSaku.
1. With a Bang

**A/N: **I originally wrote this as an anonymous entry for a KakaSaku comm challenge on lj (namely, the Underneath the Underneath challenge). It was loads of fun. :) For more information on the challenge, you can find its entry in my writing journal (hint: you totally want to. There's a link to everyone's entries, and they're amazing). Reviews are always treasured. 3

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It started with a bang.

i.

Actually, more like a loud cracking, but still pretty bad.

Terumi screamed like an idiot, and Sakura, hardcore ninja as ever, ducked and quickly covered her head. She heard a collective gasping from the caravan.

The sky exploded into a shower of sparks.

Sakura blinked, then stood. Terumi was quicker to regain her composure. She sprayed out the small fire with an extinguisher before turning on the caravan.

"_Who _set off the fireworks? _Who?_" She broke into a string of obscenities that even the most seasoned Konoha nin would be proud of. Sakura thought that Terumi was, perhaps, trying too hard to command respect. Then again, being a fellow five-four female, Sakura could understand where Terumi was coming from. Almost.

Kakashi appeared from behind the wagon (which now had a smoking hole blown through the top), and for a moment Sakura felt like she was going to have to list off her own obscene vocabulary. It turned out she didn't have to. Kakashi had, by the arm, a boy only a bit younger than herself. Obviously, by his lack of muscle and the easy way Kakashi pulled him, he was no ninja. This was a good thing, because although she'd been traveling with the caravan for a three days (the drawbacks of a civilian pace), Sakura didn't recognize him.

"_Daichi_," Terumi said, in a voice so threatening that Sakura, an only child, knew at once that the boy could only be her brother.

Kakashi held up a blackened cigarette between the fingers of his free hand. "He was trying to light this up."

"_Smoking?_" Daichi flinched. "He stows away in my cart and he _smokes near the fireworks?_" She gave him a sharp kick to the shin, which he tried to return. It didn't work, because Kakashi was still holding his arm.

"This is your brother?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Her eyes were narrowed on the smoking hole of her cart. Sakura understood that, for someone like Terumi, her cart was probably her whole livelihood. Too bad Sakura didn't feel worse about it. Terumi mumbled another expletive, this time one Sakura was unfamiliar with, and went to examine the damage. Kakashi let go of the boy's arm, but the boy lingered, probably afraid to approach his bad-tempered sister.

Sakura swayed on the soles of her feet. These civilian shoes _hurt, _and she didn't like stopping. Stopping during a long trip like this only made starting again harder. She fiddled with her water bottle and then turned her neck to stare at Terumi, who was flittering around her charred cart like a bothered insect.

"I don't think we'll have a very peaceful week," Kakashi said matter-of-factly. Sakura smiled blankly the way someone would smile at someone else who'd just spoken to them in a foreign language. _I'm sorry, I don't know what you're saying, maybe if you speak in a language I understand we can finally talk. _

Kakashi sighed. When Sakura was sure his bored glance had travelled elsewhere, she stole a look at him.

He looked a little unlike himself, in these clothes. Sakura wondered again why he had come; tried, again, to quash any foolish hope that it was for love of her. The mission, despite its triviality, had to be conducted undercover because of Rice's deathly bias against Konoha nin. Most people _wanted _bandits to catch the flash of a hidden village forehead protector. It stopped trouble before it started. But Terumi? She didn't want to scare off the customers.

Sakura sighed and attempted to tuck the strands of hair out of her face and behind her red kerchief. She knew that she looked similarly nondescript in Rice's clothes, similar to Kakashi's in their drabness. Hell, she wasn't even wearing a skirt – she was wearing a blouse and a _dress, _a coarse, beige affair that, despite the bicycle shorts underneath, made her dread a skirmish with bandits … or looking in a mirror.

Sakura tried to think of things that interested her. Things that didn't involve Kakashi. Things like medicine and textbooks – the smell of them, not moldy and old, but new and shiny-smelling – trying the Land of Rice's famed sweet fish dishes, her own clothes at home, her rented room and the flowers… that she needed to get rid of… and the fish water… that she desperately needed to change… and her jounin examination … and Kakashi…

She made a little groan of distress. Was this really going to haunt her until she returned to Konoha?

When she caught Kakashi looking at her curiously, she realized that yes, yes it was.

"Are you gonna give those back to me?"

The boy's fierce whisper to Kakashi interrupted her downward-spiral of a reverie.

"Give what back to him?" Sakura asked, still watching Terumi. It gave her some kind of petty pleasure, watching one of the other cart owners approach her and explain that she could continue with her cart in the present state, or the they could go on without the fireworks, as much as that would upset the townspeople. Sakura knew she was a terrible person for enjoying Terumi's predicament. She didn't much mind.

"His cigarettes," Kakashi answered, before the boy could. Sakura looked up at that. Kakashi shrugged. "It's a dirty habit. He should quit."

"Right," Sakura said flatly. As a part-time hospital medic, she'd seen all kinds of blackened lungs, especially in the older generations of ninja who considered their line of a work a hazardous one and smoking a detriment unlikely to affect them (if they were enlightened enough to believe it would affect them at all). One set of those lungs was Kakashi's. And he knew _full well _what he was doing, even before Sakura had started directing smoking-related barbs his way. At this point, she had decided she had no reason to care anymore. Let him go down the drain, if he so badly wanted to.

The funny thing was that, until three months ago, she hadn't even known he smoked. He'd been good at hiding it.

Kakashi, as if magically reading her mind and knowing _exactly _what would most piss her off, lit up one of the boy's cigarettes and took a drag. It was an awkward drag – he had to bunch up his mask near his nose – but it was a drag nonetheless, and Sakura didn't even get a good view of his face in the process.

"Hey! You just told me that was a dirty habit and I ought to quit!"

"I'm a dirty man," Kakashi said flatly, just to spite him. But when he looked at her, Sakura thought it might have been an apology, too.

It made her want to hit him.

"_Hey,_" Terumi called over. It was louder than it needed to be, considering they were only a few yards away. _"Ninja! Get your asses over here!"_

Sakura rolled her eyes. Kakashi took another drag before dropping the near-new cigarette on the ground (much to the boy's frustration), re-arranging his mask, and following her toward Terumi.

"It would be best if you didn't announce us at this point," Sakura said evenly. Too evenly. Terumi snorted.

"You think you ninja types know everything, all the rules, think that normal people like me just _don't understand. _Whatever. Do you see anyone shady around? I sure don't. I see some other tradesmen and… oh, maybe that _ox _is going to tell on us!"

Sakura looked to Kakashi for backup, but his hands were in his pockets. He seemed thoroughly unconcerned. Sakura almost expected him to pull out some porn, but he hadn't had the same vigor for it since Jiraiya's death. Or maybe he was just getting on in age. _It would serve him right, _she thought spitefully.

"You know," Sakura said, "This hasn't been a cakewalk for us. You could at least be grateful."

"Grateful? For what I had to pay to get you?" Sakura opened her mouth to retort, but Terumi went on.

This kind of long-term mission to an unstable country for such a trivial matter (and in such gross clothes) was a huge pain. In fact, this mission was the kind of undertaking Sakura (apprentice to the hokage, _thank you very much_) wouldn't _be _taking unless she had a huge deficit of undercover in her resume and a serious desire to be promoted to jounin by the time she was nineteen. Which was in less than a year. And with the amount of paperwork and recommendations required for a pass (very different from the chuunin exam – it was more a test of how many people you could call favors on than of survival), she only had a few months to finish this up.

"-And I don't need you screwing this up," Terumi finished.

"We sympathize completely," Kakashi agreed, if only to shut her up.

"Right." She looked at the ninja warily. "Well, we have to get out of here. So let's keep going. Damn, I can't believe you two were stupid enough not to notice a stowaway." There was a second of shamed silence. Keyword being 'second'. Sakura couldn't bring herself to feel shamed for shafting _Terumi, _especially when the stowaway turned out to be another Shibata.

"_We sympathize completely,_" Sakura mocked in a whisper.

"What was I going to tell her? She wasn't really going to stop until one of us said something."

Sakura was pretty sure Kakashi didn't care whether or not Terumi was yelling at him. His eyes were more focused on her ample chest. Maybe _that _accounted for recent lack of porn: he was the real thing right there, albeit through a layer of charcoal-mussed clothes. Sakura thwarted the urge to look forlornly down at her own chest and instead parted from Kakashi.

An hour later, they were back on the road. Sakura could feel blisters blooming on her feet. She usually didn't cure minor injuries with chakra, but when they got to this place she might have to make an exception. She glanced enviously at Kakashi's shoes. The men in this country had nice, practical boot-things.

"Hey… are you really ninja?"

It was the boy from earlier. He'd caught up to them, like a puppy tailing a kind human who might give it scraps. After the abuse he withstood from his sister, Sakura could understand it.

Kakashi and Sakura answered in unison: "No."

"You _are_, aren't you?" He looked like he was about to break into dance. Sakura gave him as patient a smile as she could manage, given that she'd been walking for ten hours.

"You can understand why we couldn't tell you even if we were."

"Nah, it's okay," he said eagerly. "I know it's important that you keep your cover. So where're you from?"

"Konoha," Kakashi answered, apparently deciding that this mission was not all that important. To his credit, the boy didn't look shocked or repulsed. He just nodded.

He wasn't bad looking, really. She was surprised she hadn't recognized him as Terumi's sibling even earlier; he had the same sun-kissed skin and smooth, dark hair. His enthusiasm reminded her a bit of Naruto at that age, with a hint of pretension that achingly reminded her of Sasuke, before he, well, turned psycho.

"How old are you?" Sakura asked him kindly. She was feeling generous. She could see something, a blip in the distance, and if there was any justice in the world it_ had _to be the Ishikawa manor-town.

"Seventeen," he said.

"Just turned. He's practically a baby," Terumi put in from her perch on the wagon. Terumi was only twenty. Sakura didn't know if she was one to talk.

Also, if Kakashi could stare at the boobs of random twenty-year-olds, why couldn't he give the (nearly) nineteen-year-old Sakura the time of day?

Her heart ached for a moment, but that was all she allowed it. "So why'd you stow away here?"

"I figured if I hid long enough nee-san wouldn't be able to send me home."

"He doesn't know a thing about fireworks," Terumi said shortly, as though this explained it all. Maybe it did. "Not even that he shouldn't light a match near them_._"

Daichi had the grace to look sheepish. "I just want to see the world, you know? See if town is… any different," he whispered. Apparently he really didn't have interest in the fireworks business.

"Kakashi-sensei, give him back his cigarettes."

"No."

She knew she was asking for an argument. She couldn't see his back – he was walking in front of her – but she imagined his face was about as expressionless as his voice.

"Come on."

"You really want another smoker in the world?"

"I don't, but I don't think this is going to change anything. And I don't think you should take things that aren't yours, either."

Kakashi took out a cigarette, lit it with a discreet seal, and put it in his mouth.

"_Don't ignore me!"_

"Hey, wait. It's cool. I can buy another pack in town. Can you do that hand thing again…?"

Sakura sulkily fell behind. Admiration showed clearly in Daichi's eyes whenever they rested on Kakashi. Was she really that much less impressive a ninja? She probably didn't even look like a ninja, with these floppy sandals and this thin dress… Hell, she must not be much of a woman, either, if she couldn't keep a naïve seventeen-year-old interested for more than two minutes. _Now you're just being ridiculous, _she told herself. This whole thing with Kakashi had put her nerves – and her self-esteem – on edge.

As they walked, the Ishikawa estate came into better view. More caravans flowed into theirs, tributaries flowing into a river. Down the hill from the house, which loomed large and white, was a smattering of color that Sakura guessed was tents. A chain of wagons and pedestrians crowded the way.

They started passing rice paddies, where workers became more and more frequent. Sakura found herself nodding and smiling at the land workers, whose straw hats tipped up to their caravan in greeting. A few children even ran up to plead for sweets, which the candy cart yielded. Sakura began to get the sense, for the first time, just how important the Moonfire Festival was to these people. Her spirits rose.

The farms tapered out as they came to the outskirts of the manor town. A few trees had been planted here, and were bursting into vivid color overhead. Sakura couldn't stop staring.

As they got closer, Sakura realized that the smattering of colors was indeed a batch of tents, hastily erected for the Moonfire Festival. Sakura wondered if Daichi would be disappointed: it wasn't very large, as towns went. It was hardly even a town, more like an outpost, unless a tent-town counted. The tents bore the bright colors of the autumn around them. Sakura noted that even the tents of these dealers seemed to advertise – one had a swirl on it that clearly indicated sweets, while another had a mask. It all led to a _large _square, where various vendors were already lining their carts and putting up lights. Sakura could almost believe she'd been spirited away but for a large inn, relatively new-looking, hanging back from the rest.

"They're trying to attract people," Terumi commented harshly.

"Why would that be a bad thing?"

"Why_? _The Moonfire Festival isn't a business venture." Sakura thought this was ironic, coming from the mouth of woman who probably earned most of her yearly income for her displays here. "It's a tradition. You shouldn't have to invite anyone who wasn't in it to begin with."

Sakura wondered if she just didn't want competition for her fireworks business. There were a lotof vendors there, after all…

"What makes the Moonfire Festival here so special?"

"It _started_ here. The old story is about the Ishikawa, who held the first Moonfire Festival hundreds of years ago, when, believe you me, _no one _had any desire to come this far southeast." Terumi examined the square with sharp eyes. "They took all the good spots," she commented savagely.

"What's it about? The tale?" Sakura tried not to sound too curious.

"Oh, you know. The usual. A love greater than – _hey!_" Terumi barreled forward, breasts bouncing, and flung herself out on the ground. Sakura stared, appalled. No one else batted an eye.

"_This_ is_ my spot," _she growled. The man who'd attempted to take her spot – a seller of mochi – drew back and left to find a different spot. Sakura thought it was too bad. She was hungry from travelling, and could have gone for some food.

From the square, if she looked up, Sakura could see the further incline of the hill. Up a bit from them was a manor, poised to look over the square, and at least as big as it. "Is that the Ishikawa estate?"

Terumi shook her head, which Sakura took to mean 'yes, but I don't like them'. "They own most of the land around here." Sakura thought she understood. The workers she'd seen must be working the Ishikwa's land. Daimyo in Rice, especially in truly rural areas like this one, tended to be old-fashioned. Many still adhered to feudalistic traditions.

"I don't think I've heard of the Ishikawa before coming here," Sakura said.

"They've never been all that hot, although they used to own more land than now. It extended all the way into what's now the northern Land of Fire. Where my family moved. Then the ninja villages came around."

Sakura remembered this. "Rice splintered in the new international climate, although the various daimyo continued their business as usual without a centralized leader. They oversaw their estates with, at worst, petty disputes. At least, until one daimyo beat out his competitors and tried to unify…" she trailed off from her recitation. The result had been disastrous: the new daimyo, eager to keep power, had welcomed Orochimaru and the ill-concieved village of Oto.

Terumi cast her a dark look. "I bet you read that in a book somewhere," she said. "Glad to know you Konoha nin are well-informed of everything you've put our country through." Orochimaru's name remained unsaid.

Sakura shrugged, falsely modest. She didn't bother mentioning that most of what she knew about international history and politics didn't come from the Konoha curriculum. In fact, when it came to history outside of Konoha, the Academy curriculum was conspicuously scant.

Terumi wouldn't let her end with the last word. "The only remainders of the Ishikawa family are the son and his old mother. His dad kicked the bucket pretty recently. They have a ton of servants, but few of them come into much contact with the family."

Sakura looked up at the manor with renewed interest. She wondered if the stories were true. A good mystery always had that effect on her.

"You guys can help us set up," Terumi said firmly.

"Of course," Kakashi said, "I'll be back in an hour. I just need a quick nap, first."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. She knew that if Kakashi said he'd be back, it meant, _If I do come back, it'll be after all the work is over. _But… her feet _hurt. _

"Me too," Sakura said. "I'm exhausted. I can only work after I take a nap."

Terumi didn't seem to care, although she scowled at them anyway before telling them to do what they liked, she would fix up the stand (with Daichi's help) and she wouldn't be hiring any Konoha nin in the future. Perky boobs or no, Terumi was a mean old lady on the inside, Sakura thought resentfully.

Especially after she explained to them that they had to share a room.


	2. Living Arrangements

_ii._

They walked silently in the direction of the inn Terumi had pointed to. Their room turned out to be on the second floor of the strange inn, which was smaller when Sakura looked closely at it. Kakashi looked at the key like he had no clue what it was for.

"You push it in a keyhole," Sakura said impatiently, motioning with her hands, "And then youturnit."

Why did that feel so dirty? It was completely innocuous. Maybe because Kakashi was giving her a strange look.

"Sakura," he said, very carefully, "I think we should talk-"

Oh, gods. This was _not _the conversation she wanted to have. She had prepared her response in the mirror right after she'd gotten home, after she'd hidden under her sheets, blushing beet red, for a night. And then realized that, because Life was Life, she would probably have to see Kakashi again.

_I'm sorry about what my actions might have implied, _she'd told the mirror, looking into earnest green eyes and making sure that nothing faltered, nothing wavered. _I know I might have made you uncomfortable. _She sure as hell knew that she was. _I might have drank a little too much _– hey, she was short, okay? And Ino had never given her anything that strong. This could all be construed as _his _fault, since she'd let him order for her in the unfamiliar bar – _so, you know, please don't take it too seriously. _Did that 'you know' sound too childish, too adolescent? Sakura had stood up a bit straighter. _Let's let things go back to the way they were._

But who was she kidding?

Genma had said he needed to sleep, because his stomach hurt. She and Kakashi, uneager to join their puking teammate, had decided to get drunk. It had gone from drunken gestures to teasing touches to…

_Gods, _she was such an _idiot. _

She'd never _thought _she was attracted to Kakashi, but she wasn't surprised when she'd kissed him, either.

She really needed to find some boys her own age. Get out more. Obviously, this was displaced sexual frustration. Maybe she could look up a fancy psychological term for it in one of her medical textbooks.

"Talk about what?" she said, a bit too hastily.

He lowered his voice a little. "I'm sorry I had to keep this from you…"_ but I've wanted to fuck you for weeks; I'd like to take you right here between the inn and the bakery, stray cats and inconvenient bystanders be damned… _

"… but there's more to the mission than you were expecting."

Sakura blinked. She really needed to get that displaced sexual frustration under control. In fact, she felt a little guilty having vivid sexual fantasies right in front of their non-consensual subject. "Okay."

"This isn't a simple transport mission. You could have taken care of that well enough on your own, and without going undercover."

Sakura felt a little put-out. She'd thought that he'd come with her as a sort of olive branch – a teacher helping his student with the tedious fleshing-out of her resume. Nope.

"So what are we after?" If her voice sounded a bit dull, it couldn't be helped.

Kakashi turned his head. Sakura followed his gaze up toward the manor.

"Ah."

"Let's go inside," he suggested.

When the door clicked shut, Kakashi made a quick, routine scan for bugs. Neither of them expected anything. In fact, Sakura was so secure in their – ahem – _deep _cover – that she laid on the bed and let Kakashi do all the work. Her feet still throbbed, but being off of them felt euphoric. She took off her kerchief and ran a finger through her greasy hair. She needed a shower as soon as humanly possible. If only her feet would let her move…

"So?" she asked, when he poked out of the bathroom.

"Your feet look like a wreck."

She sat up, tucking them under her defensively. "Weren't you going to tell me about the mission?"

He raked an absent hand through his hair. "Right. We took this mission as an opportunity to infiltrate the Ishikawa estate. Tsunade told me to pass it on to you." He took a scroll from his rucksack and nudged it toward her.

Sakura fidgeted. She hoped her feet didn't bleed on the sheets. That might cost extra or something. "Why do we want to infiltrate their estate so badly?"

"It's all in the scroll."

_That's not the point. _

"I want to hear it from you."

Sakura realized he thought she was being difficult. "The late Ishikawa patriarch has some suspected ties to Orochimaru. He died a few years ago," he explained to Sakura. "We have little reason to suspect that there's anything unusual taking place here, except that we've had no word of consent for a search from the new head of family."

Sakura didn't like this. She glanced to the walls, which the twilight darkened into shadow. She knew that Orochimaru was dead. She knew this had nothing to do with him, only with his wake. But the merest mention of him drew out all the monsters she'd stuck under her bed long ago.

She could feel her fists clenching. "Relax," Kakashi said. He must have noticed.

"It's nothing."

"All right."

"_Really_."

"All right."

"So how are we going to do this? You said we had an opportunity?"

"All of Rice celebrates the Moonfire Festival, but in especially rural areas like this, they celebrate a bit differently."

Sakura didn't like the sound of this. Rural traditions usually involved skewering something, but maybe she was just biased, being a city-dweller. Furthermore, she couldn't imagine any of those smiling rice workers trying to skewer anyone. "Go on."

"The daimyo – in this case, the young Ishikawa – chooses one woman from the crowd to be what they call the Aki-hime. He invites her to dinner in the manor. A perfect infiltration opportunity."

_Princess Autumn._ Sakura screwed up her nose. She didn't like the sound of this. "So you're saying I have to enter some kind of pageant?"

"It's not a pageant."

"You're saying this Ishikawa guy will just pick a girl off the street to be the Aki-hime?"

"Yes."

Great. "So how am I supposed to be the girl he chooses? You _did _see how many girls there are here, right?"

Kakashi broke eye contact and shrugged. Sakura groaned. This was an impossible task. "Why can't I just break in?"

"It would attract too much attention. If we have to, we can bribe the chosen girl to let us in, and hope that her wild night of passion –"

"Wait, _what?_"

Last she'd heard was 'dinner', now it was 'wild night of passion'. _Guys. _

He fingered the scroll. If Sakura didn't know him as well as she did, she wouldn't have known that this was the part he dreaded. "You're a ninja, Sakura. If you use your head – and your genjutsu – this shouldn't be an issue. You only need to keep him out long enough for us to get out of here, if necessary." He looked at her with something like an apology on his face. "Your being chosen would only be a fortunate off-chance. Tsunade did choose you in part for your looks, but we're counting on the distraction more than anything."

_Chosen for her looks._ Hm. For a fluttering moment, Sakura wondered if Kakashi agreed. She spoke begrudgingly. "So I guess we're skimping on the transport mission, then?" She felt a bit bad for Terumi. Konoha nin didn't come cheap.

"The most important goal here is the mission from the Hokage. Tsunade wants us to maintain a peaceful relationship with the various daimyo of Rice."

"And demanding searches of their houses is a good way to do that?"

Kakashi looked at her. "You ask too many questions," he said plainly. Sakura thought she saw the crinkle of a smile near his exposed eye, and she smiled back.

"Maybe if you answered more of them I wouldn't have to ask so much." It came out breezy, casual, even friendly, but as soon as she said it Sakura wished that she could physically grab the words and shove them back down her throat.

Kakashi stared at her for a second. Perhaps his eyes went a bit stiller than usual. Perhaps not. Either way, the smile was gone.

Sakura's stomach grumbled badly. She didn't have any food on her, and her achy feet and swimming head begged her not to get up.

Kakashi looked around. Sakura thought she detected a hint of something – discomfort? – in his voice. "I see there's only one bed."

"Ah," said Sakura blankly, looking around the room.

There was a single heartbeat of Awkward.

"_Terumi," _she muttered darkly.

"Sakura, it's fine. We've camped together hundreds of times. This is no different."

Sakura stared at him like he was crazy, but he was difficult to read behind his mask. Sure. They'd camped together hundreds of times, but in the weeks since The Incident, always with another teammate to diffuse the Awkward. It was like Kakashi had expected her to sexually assault him. _Now _he was fine with them sleeping alone in the same room?

Sakura flopped back down on the bed. "Since you seem to want to cohabitate so badly, you can go get it."

His eyes flicked down the length of her body. Sakura felt her toes curl, but she was sure he was only judging exactly how much space she was taking up. "I guess I asked for it."

Sakura lay on the stiff bed and stared up at the ceiling. She heard the door shut behind him. Her stomach did a little twist, and not just because of Kakashi's whole eye-flicker thing. He'd assumed she knew genjutsu – truthfully, she didn't. The reason for this was simple: Tsunade was crap at genjutsu. Sakura was good at recognizing and dispelling illusions, but she'd never made one of her own before.

It would have to be a narcotic then. She bit at her bottom lip. What could she do with what she had? She didn't bring much; this had only _supposed _to have been a typical transport mission, after all.

She lay on the bed, wondering how long it could possibly take to find a cot, before she remembered that she was waiting for _Hatake Kakashi. _She was sure she stank. And she was still so, so hungry. But she felt her eyelids growing heavy, and the bed felt so good…

_iii._

"Are you saying… you two are a couple_?_"

It was Daichi, jumping in, as usual, at the height of conversation.

"No," Sakura said shortly. She moved to another post. Soon the fireworks booth would be complete, and then Terumi could spend her days selling firecrackers and sparklers and _stop bothering _Sakura. _I mean, she knows Kakashi and I aren't a couple. There's no reason to ask things like, 'How did you sleep last night?' in a tone like that. Bitch. _

Sakura had been waiting for a reprieve from Terumi for days. Now that she thought about it, she was even beginning to look forward to this Moonfire Festival. At least, she_ thought _she might have been looking forward to it, until she remembered she still had to drug Ishikawa Hiroto and infiltrate his home. Yeah. Not fun. She sighed. Terumi misunderstood her sigh for weakness and snorted in return. "Daichi, help Sakura with her _tying, _please. Miss Ninja doesn't seem to be able to handle it. Maybe she's pining over her boyfriend."

"He's not," she said tightly. She knew that giving Terumi anything would show weakness she couldn't afford to have, not if she wanted to stay sane. "_You're _the one who put us in the same room." Terumi was just pulling her leg. Sakura knew it. But it was a violent pull nonetheless, and if Terumi didn't stop she fully planned to stop it by cutting Terumi's arm off. Or whatever that translated into, figuratively.

Terumi was quiet for a moment. Sakura noted the sound of hammering behind her. Workers were constructing a hasty stage for the festivities.

"So… Where'd your boyfriend go?"

"You mean my _sensei? _Kakashi-sensei?"

When she woke up, he was already gone. The only thing left was a pink silk kimono and some cold breakfast. Oh, and a note: _His name is Ishikawa Hiroto. _

For some reason, it had irritated Sakura beyond words_. _She felt unloved, burdensome, an Kakashi okay with just wordlessly passing her on? Or was she being too sensitive, hoping to be treated like a friend – or worse, a loved one – when she was nothing but another teammate to him?

"_What am I to you?"_ she had asked him. Apparently, he still didn't know. He'd never answered her.

"Dirty."

"I have no idea where he is. You know as well as I do that he's not my boyfriend, and, consequentially, I have no idea where he might be." Sakura hoped that throwing in a five-syllable word might be enough to throw Terumi off.

No such luck. "Too bad he won't spend time with you. Your face looks horrible when he's not around. Actually, it looks horrible all the time."

Sakura tried to tune Terumi out by thinking about Ishikawa Hiroto. Was he attractive? Kind, or at least decent? He hadn't responded to Konoha's correspondence, and he lived alone with his mother, which was weird by itself. But he was supposed to be young, which was some condolence…

Sakura turned wearily back to the stand. She hadn't slept that well last night. She had to thank Kakashi for that. He'd set up the creaky cot at the end of her bed – the room was tiny - and she'd had to spend the entire night trying not to brush against his back with her toes, trying to sleep between its groans. Sakura woke up feeling even more tired and dirty-feeling than before she'd slept.

"There he is," Daichi said. His hands were full of boxes, which meant he had to shrug vaguely over in the direction he was looking.

"Hey."

"Hey." If her voice came out a bit sharp, Sakura certainly couldn't be faulted. "Did you come back to help us work?"

Kakashi looked at her blankly. Sakura took that as a resounding _no. _

"I was helping a child find his balloon," he said. "It floated into a tree."

"Uh-huh," Sakura said, narrowing her eyes and turning back to the awning. Her work had turned out well. Terumi had an attractive set up, with crisp red-and-white striped awning and colorful signs: _Tonight's fireworks courtesy of Shibata Family Pyrotechnics: Lighting up the Moonfire Festival For a Hundred Years!_

The sign sounded far too perky for the ill-tempered Terumi. Or Sakura thought so, until a family came up and Terumi smiled a mega-watt smile that would challenge even hers.

A man rustled past Sakura. Her hand quickly went to her pocket, but he was no pickpocket. Just an average young man, probably drawn in by Terumi's boobs. Actually, he wasn't bad looking, but maybe that was Sakura's sexual frustration talking. He must have been a merchant, or a merchant's son, for despite his age, he was finely (if modestly) dressed. He smiled easily at the booth. Another man, plainer and similarly dressed, followed him. The first one said something, and the plainer one's face lit up.

"I've always loved the fireworks," the plain one said. Sakura saw the corners of his mouth turn up wistfully. His eyes lingered on the box of fireworks before travelling up to Terumi again.

"You must be a regular then," Terumi said.

"I've been watching them all my life."

The attractive man took a good look at her. Cue focus on her breast. _Why are men so fixated on boobs? _"You weren't here last year, were you?"

"The fireworks weren't nearly as good," the plain one agreed.

"My father was ill," she said shortly.

"Ah. I see. You've taken over the family business…?"

"Yes."

He allowed the subject to drop, looking instead to the wares. He bit his lip thoughtfully. He said something in a low voice to the more handsome man; the handsome man nodded indulgently.

Aloud, he said, "I'll take three hundred sparklers."

Terumi stared at him. "Three hundred…?"

"If you need some time, feel free to bring them to us later." He seemed more assertive than his taller, plainer companion, and he smiled slightly to Terumi as he produced a slip of paper and scribbled down directions.

"I'm…going to need time."

"You can bring them here," he said, handing her the slip and some heavy coins. Terumi examined the paper and put in her pocket with a wrinkle of eyebrows.

"Where are they staying?" Sakura asked, curious, after the men were out of earshot. She watched them walk off into the crowd, one saying something to the other.

"At the manor," Terumi said. "Maybe they're Ishikawa's friends or relations. They used to come in for the Moonfire Festival all the time. And they _definitely_ didn't dress like servants." But Terumi wasn't thinking of the young man's good looks. Instead, she smiled down at the money.

Sakura thought that he was, perhaps, Ishikawa himself. He'd certainly had the attractive, entitled arrogance she'd expected from the heir. She exchanged a glance with Kakashi, whose gaze was already fixed on her. He thought so, too, then. She couldn't be too far off.

She turned away, the image of the attractive young man obliterated.

_iv._

They returned to the inn for a quick lunch, accompanied by bickering over who would have to sleep on the cot that night. After about a hundred passive-aggressive comments, Sakura decided she'd had it.

"If you don't want to sleep on it, _fine. _I'll fight you for it."

Sakura lost out in rock-paper-scissors, even though she begged for best out of three. It creaked under her and was terribly uncomfortable. But it smelled of Kakashi, masculine and mysterious. Sakura was secretly – very secretly – pleased, although the pleasure dissipated when she woke up with a terrible crick in her back.

It was still very early, if the bleary morning light was any indication. Sakura sat up, trying to crack her joints into place. She looked over at Kakashi.

Huh. Funny. He slept on his side. She thought he would've slept like a soldier. She looked ore closely, enjoying her freedom to stare. His mask was still in place, but his bandages had pulled to reveal a puckered scar. With his eyes closed, it was the only thing to distinguish his two vastly different eyes.

Sakura wrenched her eyes away from Kakashi and brushed out her hair with her hand. What time was it? Earlier than five, at least, because that was when Kakashi woke up. _Only on missions, _she though dryly.

She sat still for a minute. She was realizing how _cold _her arms were now that she was up, and a little part of her nagged her to go back to the warm spot she'd made under the scratchy inn sheets. Instead, steeling herself against the cold, she rose. The cot creaked in indignation. She put socks on before donning the Rice sandals and a knit sweater.

She couldn't stay in here, where it smelled of Kakashi, where he was right _there_.

Sakura stepped outside to an even greater chill. It was darker than she'd thought from inside. The earliest beams of sunlight slipped over the horizon, but she could still see the moon and, faintly, the stars. She stared out at them.

Only to notice the smell of smoke.

She looked over to find Daichi a few doors down, smoking. He gave her an awkward wave, and she smiled and joined him.

He wore less than she did, only a long-sleeved shirt and a loose pair of pants that he might have slept in. No shoes to speak of. "How do you stand this cold?" Her voice was still hoarse from sleep, her movements heavy. He smiled at her – he had a nice smile, really.

"I don't know… maybe I grew up with it?"

Sakura caught a second whiff of his cigarette. "You know what those can do to your lungs, right?"

Daichi took a long, thoughtful drag, and blew out a stream of smoke. Sakura blearily watched. She sighed, letting the crisp air sting her lungs.

"Sakura-chan?"

It was odd to hear her name coming so imploringly from someone she hardly knew.

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you a… well, this is going to sound really strange. Can I ask you a favor?"

Sakura's bleary morning mind could hardly imagine what he wanted. At any rate, she couldn't imagine it being anything bad. "Yeah?"

"Can I… kiss you?"

Sakura stared at him for a moment, not quite comprehending.

"Just on the lips," he added, when it appeared she was going to stare at him all day. "Not anything more than just that."

"Why?"

He flushed a little. Sakura's stare lingered, unfocused, at the bright tip of his cigarette. She only remembered to blink when she realized she was still awake.

Sakura was not a morning person. Not like this, anyway.

"Why would you want to kiss me? I've only known you…" Less than a day. How many hours? It was _way _too early for math. "… Not long."

And, at the moment, she had a serious case of bedhead and a stupid morning expression, complete with bleary eyes. She couldn't imagine she was very attractive in this state, if he was looking for a torrid affair with a semi-attractive kunoichi.

"I know," he said quickly. "It's nothing personal. Although you're nice and pretty; I don't mean… I just… there aren't many girls my age in the village nee-san and I are from… and I… I kind of want a first kiss."

Sakura was actually somewhat flattered. He'd said she was nice and he obviously thought she was an appropriate candidate for a first kiss, even in her current state. His pleading expression reminded her of a younger version of Naruto. There was nothing insincere in his features – this from a girl who had (reluctantly) dabbled in the Interrogation department.

"You have to admit it's weird."

"I know," he said, sounding even. "It's fine. Please, don't pay it any mind."

"No," she said, "it's okay. Now?"

He blushed a little more. He examined her features quickly, then his gaze travelled down to his feet. "If it's okay."

She shrugged. He stubbed out his cigarette on the railing and took an awkward little step toward her. He was taller than her, but only just. She yawned.

"Sorry," she apologized, "It's too early for me."

She gave him a little smile. His eyes were brown, like maple syrup. Their lips were very close.

His mouth met hers. It began as a brush of lips. In Daichi's defense, he had soft lips, and when she briefly closed her eyes, the smell of him overwhelmed her. _Cigarette smoke. _Without thinking, her hand came up to clasp his arm, and for a moment, it became a real kiss. Daichi pulled his lips away gently.

There was the slap of a cheap inn door closing. Sakura looked to find Kakashi standing outside their door, looking on with an expression about as morning-dazed as hers.

She parted from Daichi a little faster than she'd intended, her arms dropping to her sides.

Daichi's eyes darted from Kakashi to Sakura. "I'm sorry," he blurted out.

"He's not my father," Sakura grumbled, crossing her arms and looking off into the impending sunrise. "You don't have to apologize to him." Suddenly, her knit sweater wasn't enough to warm her. Daichi, too, seemed suddenly cold; he shuffled his bare feet.

"Well," he said, "I think I'll go back to my room." He gave Sakura quick glance.

"Thank you," he said, softly; just for her to hear. Sakura nodded a little. _No problem. _He sounded very sober. Maybe because Kakashi looked very intimidating: he hadn't even bothered to replace the bandage over his sharingan, and it shone bloody in the dim light.

When she heard his footsteps travelling down the landing, she looked back off into the sunrise, resolutely ignoring Kakashi.

She heard the slap of the door again. Kakashi had gone back into their room. Perhaps he'd found her missing and thought to check outside for her. Well, she was fine. No ninja encounters. No molestations or anything, although wasn't that why she was here in the first place? _He's not my father. _

She could take care of herself.

After counting to thirty, Sakura went back into the room. Kakashi was already taking a shower. She could hear the sputtering water running through the old pipes. Perhaps she should be grateful that the place had modern piping at all, but all she could feel was resentment against the hard water that left her skin soapy and metal-scented. Resentment at Kakashi, because he would take up all the hot water and all she could imagine was his slick, bare back when he probably wanted to be anywhere but here, on a mission with a silly teenaged girl who had gotten drunk and kissed him in a Suna bar three months ago.

She picked up his turtleneck from the bed, where he'd left it. She wondered briefly if he'd thought it was a good idea to leave his clothes out.

She lay back on the cot. She wanted this to be over. She was actually glad that they'd be leaving sooner than the end of the festival in a few days.

With eyes closed, she sniffed his turtleneck. It smelled of smoke. It smelled of Kakashi.

It brought with it the vivid memory of her first kiss: Kakashi's lips pressed against hers, too hard and not-pliant, his hands reluctant around her waist. He'd smelled of smoke. He tasted of it, too, mixed with the faint tang of alcohol. She'd never known him to be a man of vices, never really thought of him as human, flawed like any other, but it didn't matter at the time.

She had wanted so badly for him to kiss her back, and he had.


	3. Night Blood

_v._

The sparkler burned to the edge, and a squawking mother cried at her child to _drop it before his arm burned off!_

Sakura's eyes followed the edge of the sparkler. It mesmerized her; it looked like a star that was dying in fast-forward. It stood out brilliantly against the darkness, if what this was could honestly be called darkness. The sun had hardly set, but the square already glowed with lanterns and lights from within stalls.

Sakura leaned against the stall and tried to hide her smile as Daichi fumbled to fulfill the orders for sparklers that besieged him. The crowd was demanding, and he had little idea of how to handle it without his sister's expertise. Terumi and the two men who worked for her had gone to set up the fireworks, which were due in a couple of hours.

"Sakura-chan, why don't you do something to help?"

"It's more fun watching you struggle."

A smile flickered on an otherwise frantic expression. "You're not as nice as I thought you were," he said, although his tone was fond. Sakura had found quickly that, if anything, they were more friendly now than before.

Kakashi, on the other hand…

Sakura's eyes wandered to a stand in the far corner, where people could have their wishes written on lanterns (for a price) before the lanterns floated into the air. Sakura had wished to pass her jounin examinations. She'd made another round before, embarrassingly, returning to write only six characters:

_Hatake Kakashi. _

She turned back to Daichi and the stand.

_Where is he?_

The Aki-hime would be announced soon. Sakura's hand tightened around her stick of dango. She'd painted her nails her favorite shade of seafoam, and her pink, silk sleeve caught the light prettily. Even so, she knew that she wasn't going to be the one to catch the daimyo's eye.

"Excuse me?"

Sakura's head jerked up. For a moment, she thought her prince had come to collect her. A beat of fear pulsed through her.

The man in the mask nodded at her. Beneath his mask, Sakura could distinguish that he was one of the same youths who'd come to examine the fireworks that morning. The attractive one. Her stomach twisted. "May I speak to you a moment?"

Mystified, Sakura only nodded. He moved, and she followed. Perhaps he _was_ the young daimyo. His mask was shaped like a bird's, with a large protruding beak that covered much of his face. It creeped her out. But maybe that was because they were going someplace darker, where the firelight didn't illuminate so much as it pronounced the shadows. His mask didn't seem terribly royal, but what did Sakura know?

Behind the teahouse, things were quieter. Darker, too, athough the stars, lanterns, and moon still provided considerable light. Sakura could see little bright spots along the hill. Families sitting on blankets, a lantern at each one, with the occasional flicker of a sparkler.

"You were with Shibata-san yesterday morning, correct?"

His tone was conversational. Sakura nodded. Something told her he was talking about the female Shibata.

"Good. And your name is?"

"Adachi Sakura," she answered promptly. Maybe he was just interested in Terumi – and used to having his questions answered – but her suspicion waxed. Anyone who asked a shinobi for her full name during an undercover mission was to be suspected, and the fact that he had dragged her behind a building to ask her this didn't help his case. Her guilt sent her fingers unconsciously to the place inside her sleeve where she'd sewn in the narcotics vial (even if Sakura wasn't the Aki-hime, she supposed a knock-out drug would make a fine gift to the unlucky girl). The masked man misread her gesture, and his hand jolted out to stay her wrist.

They was a pregnant silence. Sakura's eyes flickered up to his, although they were obscured by the mask. Someone with that kind of speed was no ordinary person.

No daimyo moved like a ninja.

Quicker than she could think, Sakura infused her free fist with chakra and pummeled him in the stomach. He crumpled, but in that same heartbeat someone had yanked Sakura from behind.

The masked man popped into smoke just as an immobilized Sakura felt the tip of a kunai to her throat.

Definitely a ninja, then.

She couldn't see him. She could only hear the pounding of her heartbeat, beating in time with the flickering, oblivious lights on the horizon. She could scream, but what would that do? Innocent bystanders didn't deserve whatever harm this man might see fit.

Besides, Sakura thought, at least there only seemed to be the one attacker. Although being taken by surprise was something no ninja relished, she could handle it.

"I've got your wrists," he pointed out. "Adachi-san. If that's even your real name, which I doubt."

Sakura noticed that his kunai hand was very even. A seasoned professional, then, if his clever ambush hadn't been telling enough.

"How did you know?"

"Oh, you're not so bad. It was just your bad luck to be partnered with Hatake Kakashi – the man's infamous. His picture's been in the Bingo Book for years. Walking around with a mask and a covered eye doesn't exactly help."

Next time she saw Kaksahi, Sakura resolved to kick him in the shins and tell him she wanted someone nice and normal as a partner for her next mission.

He hadn't bound her feet, Sakura noted, so he didn't realize that she could be just as deadly with her other appendages. Perhaps he didn't know of her reputation, if he'd recognized Kakashi and not her. If he was really a Rice nin, the information he had about Konoha would be severely outdated, especially in regards to its youngest generation.

She infused her foot with chakra and pounded it down – hard – on his.

Sakura heard the crack of bones. She muffled his cry by whirling around to clap a hand over his mouth, but too late. One of the closer lanterns stirred. She could make out a shadowy figure coming toward her from one of the blankets. Was he a concerned villager or the ninja's partner? Sakura glanced at the masked ninja before fumbling for his knife and plunging it into his heart. No time to extract information. She needed to tell Kakashi. _Now. _

She hurried back into the light, shaken. Blood had gotten on one of her sleeves, but only a few drops, and only on the underside. Whatever. She could pretend they were part of the floral design. Her eyes jumped through the crowd, trying to hone in on Kakashi, but the crowd moved like water, ever-changing.

She raced through it, narrowly avoiding a collision with the cloth dragon players. She smelled barbecue and incense. The smells, all thrown together, made her nauseous. She didn't fear for Kakashi, but she feared for herself. And for Daichi.

"Oh, hey," Daichi said when she arrived, "There you are. Where did you go? Who was that man?" Business seemed to have subsided to a reasonable pace, though Sakura was too busy looking around to really take note. Nothing suspicious, but how would she know suspicious from not-suspicious?

"It might not be safe here, Daichi-kun. Keep your guard up."

When she turned her head to face him, he looked worried.

Sakura bit her lip. She didn't have time to reassure him. Instead, she raced off, still looking for Kakashi.

She bumped into someone. Immediately, she tensed. She drew herself a step away from him and stiffened to avoid going straight into battle stance.

It was the second man, the one who'd accompanied the ninja she'd just killed the morning before.

He wore the mask of a dragon, which seemed at odds with his bland personality. He smiled at her slightly and walked past. He seemed harmless. But then again, she hadn't sensed the other ninja's chakra, either. He'd concealed it exceptionally well.

Sakura followed him and caught him by the shoulder. He looked taken aback, and he turned to get a second, closer look at her.

"You're… you're that girl who was with Shibata-san."

"Yeah," Sakura answered, deciding whether she wanted to kill him here, interrogate him, or let him go. She eased her grip and decided to keep her cover. "Do you know where she is, by any chance? I thought she said something about meeting you…"

"Meeting me?" He sounded perplexed. "No, nothing of the sort, you must have misheard. Actually, I was, er. On my way to her stall right now to see when she was going to return."

"She's preparing the fireworks… why are you looking for her?"

The young man evaded Sakura's gaze. "I – er."

"It's okay," Sakura said supportively, "I'm her friend. We're very close." _Ha._ "You can tell me."

He only looked more unsettled by this.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Ishikawa Hiroto," he replied, without hesitation. Sakura took a renewed look at him. He couldn't possibly be the daimyo… could he? She'd heard others speak of him as a 'boy', but he could be no older than her. He was taller than her, but had little presence, and still struck her as terribly plain, despite his sleek clothing and fine features. Could he really be the head of the grand estate? Or was he another ninja, trying to trick her?

"Are you… making her Aki-hime?"

He bit at his lip. "Yes," he said reluctantly.

Sakura felt her eyebrows rising. She couldn't imagine Terumi being raped by – well, anyone, but especially by _this_ guy. Then she realized that something dangerous was going on, rape aside. And that she still needed to infiltrate the Ishikawa manor.

"Terumi can't do it," she said, without thinking.

He looked even more unsettled. "What? I mean, why can't she?"

"Um…" What was a good reason? "…She's, um." Brilliance hit her. "She'sonherperiod."

Well, she certainly _did _act like she had a constant case of PMS.

"Wha-" realization dawned on his face. "Oh."

"I mean, maybe you don't mind, but I know she's really sensitive during this time of month and –"

"No, I understand." He'd buried his face in his hand and was rubbing the bridge of his nose. "No… oh. What am I going to do?"

Sakura made a face that he couldn't see. What was he supposed to _do?_ There were gorgeous girls everywhere for the doing, but, specifically, there was one right in front of him.

Well, Sakura refused to be done, but he didn't know that.

"I could do it," she said, trying not to sound eager. Trying to sound, rather, like a valiant girl willing to take a knife for a friend.

He looked up at her. "You truly wouldn't mind?"

She shook her head and tried to concentrate on her peasant-girl-best-friend routine. "I'll do anything I can to help Terumi-chan. I don't want her to get in trouble." Well, she and Kakashi _were _shorting her on a transport mission, so this was the least she could do.

"You _are_ pretty," he said, carefully. "I suppose you'll do."

Sakura nearly said something sharp, but she kept it in. Meek peasant girls didn't reply sharply to condescending comments. Instead, she bowed her head to hide her grimace.

She felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Please," he said, "don't feel badly about this. I promise you this won't be an unpleasant experience."

Sakura's grimace only went fouler. Not an unpleasant experience? Tell that to last year's rape victim.

He led her through the crowds. Sakura would've kept her eyes on the floor, but she was still busy trying to scan the crowd for the merest sign of Kakashi.

The young man led her up to the stage and tugged his mask off. The stage looked better than it had yesterday, all nicely painted red and gold now. He gave her hand a would-be comforting squeeze and tugged her up the stairs.

Everything went quiet. The fluid movement of the river-crowd slowed to a trickle, and Sakura stared out at the people. They stared back at her, eyes taking in her kimono, her hair. Sizing her up against the Aki-himes before and past.

Sakura tugged at her bloodied sleeve and hoped that it wasn't visible. Her eyes locked with another's in the crowd: Kakashi's. She suddenly went still. She felt a tug on her non-bloodied sleeve. She looked over to find Hiroto kneeling before her. "Put your hand over my eyes," he said, sounding worried. Suddenly stricken with an acute case of stage fright, Sakura reached out clumsily to place her palm over his eyes.

A servant of some kind approached and handed Hiroto a candle. He held it out. It took Sakura a couple seconds for her to understand that she needed to take it, and she reached out awkwardly for it with her free hand.

Sakura looked over to catch Kakashi's eye again. He gave her an awkward little wave, and she responded in kind, with an even more awkward wave of her candle. Okay. So she probably looked like a total idiot here.

The next second, she saw two men approaching Kakashi.

She opened her mouth – and her eyes, wide – in warning.

At that moment, she heard the familiar boom of fireworks going off.


	4. Making Good

_a/n: _Changed the title to 'Moonfire' from its previous 'The Lucid Princess'. I think it has a little more _oomph. _I appreciate reviews, as always. :)

_vi. _

Kakashi must have seen her expression, because as the rest of the square watched the fireworks, he glanced – nonchalantly, like it was no big deal – back at his two pursuers. He gave a last, quick look Sakura's way before nudging to the edge of the crowd. Sakura felt herself release a sigh. Good. Kakashi could take them on.

Couldn't he?

"_Take your hand off," _Hiroto said, sounding exasperated. Sakura quickly removed her hand. He yanked her candle hand so their hands were both around it. Then he put his arm around her shoulder, perhaps a bit too stiffly, and turned her so their backs were to the majority of the crowd as they, too, looked at the fireworks. Oh. She must not have heard him the first time he'd told her.

She longed to turn and catch a last glimpse of Kakashi, but Hiroto held her stiffly. Terumi's fireworks were brilliant, but all Sakura could think was_ What have I gotten myself into? _Ishikawa Hiroto was no ninja, but there were nin around, and Sakura had no clue where they'd come from or what their agenda was. Well, seeing Hiroto with one seemed to indicate that they were connected, but unless they were planning some kind of serious ambush (she hoped not), Hiroto didn't seem to be privy to the fact that Sakura was a ninja – or, at least, traveling with a particularly infamous one.

After the fireworks display, he led her off the other side of the stage.

"What now?"

He seemed grudging to talk to her. "We go back to my home."

"Wait –"

Wait for what? Kakashi flashed to mind. "There's someone I need to speak to before this. He doesn't know about this."

Hiroto's face softened for a moment. "A boyfriend?"

"Not really," Sakura said softly. "More like family. I was looking for him when I bumped into you."

He nodded. "All right," he said. "Let's go find him."

She led Hiroto to the place where she'd thought Kakashi was heading, but he wasn't there. She didn't see any traces of a skirmish, either; no bodies or blood. Perplexed, she headed back to the fireworks stall. Perhaps she could trust Daichi with a message.

When she got the stall, Daichi wasn't there, but Terumi was. She glowed with the pride of a job well done, her smile growing bigger with every compliment from the gathered Rice citizens. When they caught sight of Sakura and Hiroto they scurried, casting up questioning, reverent looks as they parted.

"Sakura?" Terumi stared. The glow seeped out to give way to puzzlement.

"Terumi-chan," Sakura said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"Shibata-san," Hiroto said, "Your friend offered to fill in for you, considering that you're…." he trailed off. It was a long trail-off. He obviously didn't want to talk about female bodily functions, especially in front of the female in question.

"What? I'm _what_?"

"Terumi-chan," Sakura gritted out, "Ishikawa-san was ready to grace you with the title of Aki-hime this year. But I told him that it was, you know. That time of the month."

Terumi looked confused and suspicious, but not entirely ungrateful. Sakura was unsurprised that Terumi was uninterested in becoming Aki-hime, or in looking Sakura' gift horse in the mouth.

"Oh," she said. "Right. Yeah. It's true."

Hiroto clasped his hand before him and bowed slightly. He looked like a nervous child. "Shibata-san," he said, "I hope you understand that I meant no insult in initially choosing you as Aki-hime, nor in choosing your friend so easily over you. I've enjoyed your fireworks for years." He smiled slightly, and Sakura found herself less impatient with him. "They're one of the things I remember most vividly about my childhood."

"You told me so yesterday morning."

"I did. And it's true. I heard of your father's death – both of our fathers passed away these last three years - and… I only wished you to reap some of the benefits of the title. I didn't mean to dishonor or displease you. Please accept my apology." As an aside, to Sakura, he said, "For your friendship, I shall ensure that you receive the benefits, too…?"

"Adachi Sakura."

"Adachi-san."

Sakura hadn't realized there were actual perks to being the Aki-hime, but she supposed it was to be expected. Any whore worth her salt would expect payment.

Terumi's mouth pressed into a line. Sakura knew she didn't appreciate this kind of patronizing charity, but even Terumi couldn't stay hard-hearted against such sentiment. "It's really not necessary," she said, "but I appreciate the thought, Ishikawa-sama."

"Please," he said, "You can call me Hiroto-san." He smiled boyishly, and for a moment Sakura wondered if he really did have a thing for Terumi.

"Terumi-chan," Sakura put in, "Have you seen, er. Kakashi?"

"He's right behind you."

She whirled around to find Kakashi. Relief broke through her, and she sighed in relief.

"Kakashi!" she said, again carefully leaving the 'sensei' off. He looked quickly up at her, a question.

"Sakura's the Aki-hime," Terumi informed him.

Kakashi's eyes flicked to Hiroto, then back to Sakura.

"Well," he said. "Congratulations."

Sakura felt severely put-out. "Yeah," she said. "Thanks a bunch."

Then he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her.

Sakura may or may not have breathed in quickly. His clothes rustled against hers; she could feel the brush of his mask against her cheek. His lips were very close to her ear. Very, very faintly, she could smell the cigarette smoke that brought back her memory of their kiss.

"I'll follow you," he whispered. For a second, that sounded very romantic. "Keep your eyes sharp. Do you have what you need?"

_A goodbye kiss would be nice, _a little, ridiculous part of her thought. "I'm good," she breathed back. She had her narcotic and her fists; she would be fine. She inhaled the scent of him. There. That would get her through. He pulled away. Maybe it was her imagination, but she thought he'd lingered a little longer than necessary. Her imagination, definitely.

"Please be gentle with her," he said, jokingly, to Hiroto. Hiroto, probably about as intimidated as Daichi had been, only nodded.

As he led her away, Sakura stole one last look at Kakashi.

He was reaching up for the edge of his mask, lighting up another of Daichi's cigarette.

His eyes hadn't left her.

_vii._

"Aren't you hungry, Adachi-san?"

Sakura looked down at the glorious spread of food before her. Every sweet and fruit she could think of…. Rare, spiced meats that she could smell perfectly…. Her stomach grumbled. She noticed a strip of flesh showing near her ankle. She shifted to cover it with her kimono.

"No," she replied.

He pensively traced the rim of his sake glass. _Drink it, _Sakura thought. She'd poured the narcotic in while his back was turned. This settled it: he really, _really _wasn't a ninja. _Drink it!_

But his appetite seemed to be as lost as Sakura claimed hers was.

"Adachi-san," he said suddenly, "I need to tell you something."

"Yes?" Sakura was staring at the glass. _DRINK IT!_

"I… I'm not interested in having relations with you."

She looked up at him. "What?"

"I don't want to have sex with you."

Sakura's face contorted. Was that an insult? Was he really in love with Terumi? Sakura simply couldn't comprehend how an entitled young man would pass up the opportunity for ritual sex with a girl who was semi-decent. And Sakura's would say that she was semi-decent, at least.

Maybe he really disliked pink hair?

"Were you set on Terumi?" she asked, probing carefully.

"No," he said, equally careful. "It's nothing… nothing to do with you, Adachi-san. Or with Shibata-san. I suppose I could have chosen Shibata-san just as easily tonight, I just… in her condition, if anyone knew, people might not believe…" Sakura couldn't figure out _why_, but she understood _what_.

"You want people to believe we had sex, even though we didn't?"

"Yes," he said, sounding pleased that she'd figured this out. "You understand this is a matter of high trust. In addition to the gifts given to you as the Aki-hime, I'll also pay you to keep this a secret. Do you agree?"

"Sure," said Sakura. She felt a little bad for drugging his drink, now. He wasn't so bad. Hey, if she'd really just been a normal girl, she would have been happy to let him off even without the bribe.

"I suppose your lover won't be happy about it, nonetheless, but he seemed to accept it well."

"What?"

"The man you think of as family."

"Well, he's _not _my lover," she said, her voice a bit too haughty for a peasant girl's. He laughed softly.

"I'm sorry," he said, "My mistake. I just thought… it didn't look like an embrace between family. Perhaps he feels differently toward you?"

"No," Sakura said stoutly. "You're wrong."

She picked at one of the dumplings.

"I'm sorry," he said. He frowned. Sakura decided he was really somewhat attractive, with his fine, straight nose and baby-face. "I really am, Adachi-san. I seem to have offended you."

"No," she said. If this boy had anything going for him, it was his faultless politeness. Sakura found it hard to dislike someone who was so sincerely polite. "You haven't. Really. And I'm grateful that we don't have to… um, have relations."

He smiled a little and reached for his drink.

As he did, a shrill cry from down the hall interrupted them both. Hiroto flinched. Sakura rose quickly, her eyes trained on the door at the other side of the room.

"What are you_-?"_

There was a tall shadow looming on the other side of the paper door.

Sakura slid it open so hard that it clapped against the frame. Her face, previously tense, split into a short-lived smile.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi nodded at her. "Come on. We need to get out of here."

Sakura felt her heart sink to her stomach. Things must have gotten really bad, really fast. She looked quickly back at Hiroto. She lowered her voice. "Will he be okay?"

Kakakshi glanced over her shoulder to see what she was talking about. "How is he still conscious?"

Sakura crossed her arms. "He wouldn't drink," she said defensively.

"You really need to work on your genjutsu," he said, procuring a kunai from his shirt and handing it to her. She narrowed her eyes as she tucked it into her kimono.

"Well, maybe I can fault a certain teacher _who never taught me genjutsu!_"

"You're – _ninja?_" Hiroto's comment reminded her of Daichi's, although his came out broken. She supposed having your house infiltrated by ninja was never a good thing. And now, with mysterious screams coming from down the hall, she supposed they_ would _be the most likely culprits.

"There goes our cover," Kakashi said calmly.

"Who was that just now?" Sakura asked.

"A woman-"

"My mother," Hiroto said quietly. He looked pale.

"It wasn't me," Kakashi said. "It was one of the others."

"What?" It was Hiroto. Apparently, the presence of other ninja was news to him.

"You don't know that you have ninja in this village?"

"No-I-" he looked on the brink of fainting.

"One was with you this morning," Sakura pointed out.

"Junichi-kun? No! He's my friend – he's visited me since we were young –"

"He's a ninja," Sakura said flatly. Apparently the infiltration had been discreet. Of Kakashi, she asked, "Do you think he was one of Oto's?"

"_Oto-?"_

"It could be."

"Was anyone following you?"

"Not directly. It will take them a while."

"Let's go." She glanced back at Hiroto. He was still staring at them wide-eyed.

"Am I… in danger?"

"Yes," Kakashi said. He looked at Sakura. Sakura felt the weight of a decision on her shoulders.

"I can take care of him," she said. She felt silly; like she was asking for a puppy or some other triviality. Kakashi replied with a nod and exited, followed by Sakura and Hiroto.

"Thank you," said Hiroto, as they exited to the dark hallway. No one had put any paper lanterns in the manor house. "I promise I won't be any trouble. I swear-"

He was cut off suddenly with a thump. Sakura and Kakashi turned quickly to see him raising his head from the floor.

"I tripped," he said, sheepishly.

Sakura and Kakashi did not respond, though they stared.

"What…?"

He followed Sakura and Kakashi gazes to what he'd tripped on and yelped, scooting away from it.

The moonlight streaming through the window fell on the dead body. A servant girl. Fresh blood pooled from her throat.

"Kimiko-chan," he said shakily. "Oh, _gods…_" he buried his head in his hands. Sakura pulled him up by his wrist as gently as she could.

"Tell me," she said. "How many staff members did your family have?" Sakura guessed from the complex that it would be a large number.

"About a hundred, though only twenty or so have clearance to actually enter the house. K-Kimiko-chan was my mother's personal maid." His eyes darted around. Sakura was relieved that his mother's corpse seemed to be elsewhere. Kimiko must have run before being caught. "The rest stay in the kitchen or attend to the grounds or other chores."

Sakura nodded to herself. "Are most of them out at the Festival tonight?"

"Yes." His eyes travelled, haunted, back to Kimiko's corpse. "Except for Kimiko and my mother," he whispered.

"Good. We'll be able to avoid unnecessary casualties, then." A thought occurred to her. "What was your mother doing here?"

"She hasn't come down to the Festival in years," he said sulkily.

"Why?"

"I – I'm not really sure why. She was… very bitter with my father toward the end. She withdrew when I was young."

Sakura examined him. "I think we should go to your mother's room," she said. She could hear Kakashi shifting behind her.

"_What? _Are you insane? My mother is – she's _dead. _And we need to leave or we'll end up the same as her!"

"I agree with Sakura," Kakashi said. "The merit of investigating now outweighs the risk, since we now have reason to suspect your family of illegal activity. Ninja wouldn't be here otherwise." Sakura appreciated the camaraderie in her time of need, and gave him a worn smile. It was the best she could do under the circumstances. She turned back to Hiroto.

"It's possible your mother knew what was going on here. It's also possible that your father had ties to an unsavory organization-"

"You mean Otogakure," Hiroto replied dryly.

"Yes," Sakura said.

Hiroto was stubbornly silent.

"You can come with us," Kakashi said calmly, "Or you can stay here and see if the Oto nin have any greater sympathy for you."

"What makes you think they're Oto nin at all?"

Sakura re-examined Hiroto. She came to the conclusion that he knew no more than she did – less, even – and that he was simply in denial. "Orochimaru once controlled this land. I'm sure he did it slowly and carefully. It would make sense for him to plant his trained spies within the households of the various daimyo in case one of them were plotting against him, or to gain leverage on the families if it was necessary." She thought of Junichi, of his easy companionship with Hiroto earlier that day. "Perhaps even from a young age, so that it would seem most natural to the family."

"Well, why don't all the other families have this problem? Why target the Ishikawa specifically? We – I –" he choked on his words; Sakura had forgotten that he was the last of his kind. "…I have nothing. The Ishikawa family hasn't held a national position in generations. My great-grandfather was the last one to do so."

"What position did he hold?" Kakashi asked. Sakura could detect something careful in his tone. She held her breath.

Hiroto looked up at Kakashi. "He was friend and official advisor to the sixtieth daimyo," he said reluctantly, before tucking his head down again.

"That's an important position," Sakura said, equally careful as Kakashi. She remembered the sixtieth daimyo –a son from the family of Tora – from her reading. He was the last in a long line, the last leader of Rice to have a balance between strong, centralized power and the power of the various lesser daimyo. He died without sons, and that was when the trouble started up again. She didn't remember _anything _about the Ishikawa, though, in the short, glowing description. Strange that he should go unmentioned, if he was such a prominent advisor to one of the greatest daimyo in Rice's recent history…

"He was assassinated," Hiroto added shortly. "For suspected treason."

Well, that explained it.

Kakashi _hmmm_ed. "Perhaps they were looking for something? Some tie to your great-grandfather."

"My great-grandfather may have invited them in," he said. His voice was a hoarse whisper.

Kakashi went motionless. "Really."

"Junichi was the son of a family friend," Hiroto said. As he talked, his voice became quicker. "He was no stranger out of nowhere. And my parents were always so warm to him. Almost all the servants were second-generation _at least_; when they weren't, my mother always ran a huge background check on them. She was almost to the point of paranoia. My father –" Sakura had the impression that it was difficult for him to talk about his father "-was a proponent of Oto. Not that we had much to do with it, living all the way out here, but he always said he wanted Rice to have something to defend itself with, something that would guard it from international abuses…"

"So you had no clue that your family was harboring Oto nin before they were even Oto nin." Sakura tried to keep her voice even. She had great sympathy for Hiroto, but she couldn't let him see it until she was certain he was on their side.

"No," he said. "No idea at all." He stared up at her, large eyes imploring. "Please. You have to believe me."

Sakura turned away and said nothing. Kakashi remained quiet.

"Fine," Hiroto said, "We can go through my parents' things, if that makes you feel any better. But my mother wouldn't have kept them in her room. She would have kept them in my father's study. That's where she took care of her business after he died."

"Good," Kakashi said. "Lead the way."

Hiroto's breath caught. "B-but there are still ninja around!"

"We'll keep you safe," Sakura said firmly. "It's a risk, but it's one we have to take. With any luck, we'll find your mother's things before they do."

They travelled down a back stairway which Hiroto described as being the servants'. It was a small, tightly cramped quarter, with narrow steps.

Suddenly Hiroto screamed.

_Thwack. _At the jerk of Kakashi's arm, the ninja dropped to the floor. Kakashi wiped his kunai on his pants and tucked it back into his holster.

"That was quick," Sakura said, trying not to sound as nervous as she felt. Tight spaces like this made her feel claustrophobic. Her skills weren't suited to excessively cramped quarters like these.

"Let's go on," Kakashi said.

Soon after, Hiroto led them through a door that opened to a wall of silken fabric. He hesitated, then drew back the fabric and emerged on the other side. Kakashi followed quickly, with Sakura bringing up the rear.

They found themselves in a huge, richly decorated room. The rich fabric made up a decorative draping; if Sakura hadn't known, she would never have guessed that it lead into this room. More silk curtains covered the windows, muffling the moonlight. If the chill in the room was anything to go by, the windows were open.

A sharp wind suddenly swept through room. The silken curtains billowed; a flash of motion caught Sakura's eye. She turned, but not in time to see a surprised –_ surprised_ – Kakashi crying out and crumpling down. A woman lay on the grown where Kakashi had shoved her, but not before she'd stabbed him with what appeared to be a syringe. Of something.

Sakura's eyes widened just before she heard what had distracted Kakashi: footsteps, their creator so heavy that not even his ninja grace could conceal him. In the same heartbeat as her realization, she ducked a hundred hissing needles. A heartbeat later, she whirled around with a kick. She connected to a man's jaw. Heavy as it was, it snapped.

He got up anyway, and Sakura stumbled back from the rebuke.

Sakura knew she wasn't dealing with any ordinary ninja. She was lucky none of his needles had grazed her, since she felt sure they were poisoned. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, the crawling woman. Something jagged stuck out of her back. A kunai of Kakashi's. If there was one thing Kakashi trumped her in, it was probably speed and reflexes. He'd managed to stab her in the back before Sakura had even noticed their more obvious attacker.

She steadied her eyes back on the bulk of a man before her. She tried not to think about Kakashi crumpled on the ground, infected with who-knew-what. A dose like that – a syringe of it – was a hundred times deadlier than poison-tipped needles, even if it _wasn't _stuck directly in a vein.

As if she could hear some giant clock ticking away her seconds, Sakura hurled herself at the bulking ninja.

_One: _she whirled to punch him in the gut.

_Two: _he blew back against the wall, falling with plaster and wood flying around him like dust.

_Three: _she pounced on him, pulled him down, and drove a kunai through his chest.

It was like digging a grave in frozen ground, but Sakura persisted, shifting all her weight onto the little kunai. He screamed in pain. In an instant, time sped back to normal. He screamed so loudly that she actually scrambled off of him. But she'd done her damage. His screaming died, and he along with it. Sakura didn't care. She was already stumbling through the blood to Kakashi – _Kakashi – _kneeling next to him, checking for a pulse. She could hear Hiroto hyperventilating in the corner. She couldn't spare him a look.

Kakashi's pulse was there. Good. Irregular, but there.

"That was quick…" he mumbled.

"Shhh. Shut up." Sakura yanked his arm toward her. Sure enough, she found that the woman had pierced him in the upper arm. She'd managed to botch the job, but it was still an effective, deadly poison. Fool-proof.

"That… hurt, Sakura."

She examined the wound, her eyes widening.

"_Shit," _she said. Kakashi tried to get up, but she shoved him back down. "Don't you dare," she snapped. It was poison, definitely, although she could get very little sense of what it was doing, frantic as she was. Her best bet was to expel it as thoroughly as she could.

She bunched up the fabric of his shirt so that his entire bicep was exposed. She reached down to take a fresh kunai out of Kakahi's vest and, grip unnaturally even, she brought it to his arm and made a precise cut. Okay, it wasn't sterile, but it was the best she could do. _Relax, _she told herself. She spread the fingers of her right hand over the wound and breathed deep. She smelled cigarettes and crisp night air. _Kakashi. _Right. Extract the poison. It was too late to get all of it out – it was a fast one, and it had already, doubtless, circulated for a minute or two. But she could keep him from going completely unconscious, with any luck. Or, worse: dying.

The bandage had slipped off his face. His mismatched eyes flickered. She watched them closely.

"C'mon, Kakashi-sensei," she said, feeling the green chakra light under her fingers. She could feel his breathing getting ragged; she realized that she'd leaned close over him. "I can't get out of this alone, Kakashi" she whispered. "I can't leave you here to die." She was surprised to hear how little her voice sounded.

He sighed a little.

Sakura was about to remark happily to Hiroto that his breathing was steadying when she felt an acute sting in her the back of her calf. She turned to find that the woman had stabbed her with a second syringe. She wondered how many the bitch had.

"My family's name-" she croaked. Sakura realized that Hiroto's mother hadn't died after all. No. She was working with the Oto nin the entire time, working with the very people who'd just tried to kill her son. Sakura felt her temper flare up to burning levels before she started feeling woozy.

She saw, with a vague wonder, a shaky knife go through the woman's back. It was Hiroto, with the kunai Sakura had discarded.

The woman strained to turn her head. "My… son…"

Her eyes glazed, and she slumped down like a rag doll.

Sakura felt herself slumping as well, as much as she tried to fight it. She slumped onto Kakashi's chest, which now heaved up and down regularly. She felt some masochistic kind of satisfaction: at least she'd saved him. She sighed, the last sigh before a sleep.

Except something under her shifted and then something shook her – hard – and called out her name.

She concentrated. It seemed much harder than it ever had before, but when she did, she could feel the poison spreading through her. She took another deep breath and tried to squeeze it out of her wound. Her mind wandered. It flashed black and blank. Sakura, each time, diverted it back to the wound. Everything swam.

She slumped forward again, eyes still closed, but this time she realized Kakashi was holding her. Huh.

She needed to sleep.

She must have failed.

She must have been dying.


	5. Morning Smoke

_a/n: _Last chapter! If you've enjoyed it thus far, please review. I'll really appreciate it. Either way, I hope you enjoy the ending!

_viii._

Through her pounding headache, Sakura could discern the stale smell of old cigarettes.

For a moment, Sakura remembered that she was hungover. She shut her eyes tighter. _No. _She squirmed in the bed. It smelled of Kakashi. The whole _room _smelled of Kakashi, the Kakashi who smoked like a chimney. She still couldn't believe he smoked so much. _That's what I get for kissing him last night, _she though, wishing she could go back to sleep.

But then she remembered. She remembered everything from the end to the beginning: the syringe, Kakashi, the stage, the paper lanterns, the strange men, and finally, the bang of the misfired firework where it had all begun.

She opened her eyes.

The morning light leaked in the blinds, reminding Sakura of her kiss with Daichi. Was that really just last morning? It felt like an eternity ago. She blinked and stared up at a crack in the inn ceiling. She could hear the pipes running, but not in her room; not Kakashi. _Kakashi. _He was the one who'd shaken her back to her senses.

Sakura felt a warm sense of gratitude toward him. For the first time since their embarrassing encounter, she felt reassured.

Although it _did _concern her that there didn't seem to be a doctor around, or anyone else for that matter. Frowning, Sakura slipped off the covers and got to her feet. They were shaky. She realized someone had dressed her in her pajamas, and, quite considerately, her Rice sweatshirt. The fact that someone had changed her without her consent didn't bother her. She figured it hadn't been Kakashi, and if it had been someone else, what did she care? She looked down at the sweatshirt fondly. Its warmth had grown on her, even if she still thought it looked frumpy. Oh well.

She peeked her head out the door. Kakashi stood a few paces down, leaning over the railing. The sun blurred his figure at its edges, made them glow; Sakura could smell the smoke and make out a few cigarette stubs at his feet. She opened her mouth to scold him, but the image struck her.

For a moment, Sakura watched the smoke dissipate into the foggy morning sunlight. Her gaze wandered back to Kakashi himself. The most surprising thing about seeing Kakashi unmasked was how _normal _it was. Sure, she was staring at his jaw for the novelty of it, but she could see it growing on her.

Sakura shut the door gently. The click of it gave her away anyway, and Kakashi looked over in her direction. Tentatively, he turned back to the sunrise. Sakura crept up, arms crossed against the cold, and leaned over the rail next to him.

"Glad to see you're feeling better, Sakura."

"Glad to see I was being well taken care of, sensei."

"Oh," he said, after a moment. "That."

"Did you even_ get_ a doctor to treat me?"

"Of course I did," he said. "Although there wasn't much for her to do. You must have built up quite the immunity."

Sakura shrugged like it was no big deal. "Part of my training," she said. Her fingers tightened their hold in her sweater, straining for warmth. "Are – you're okay, right?"

He gave her a look. Sakura thought it was fond. Maybe the same sort of fond look that she'd just given her sweater, she thought. She was trying not to read into it too much, although the numerous cigarette stubs returned to her mind's eye. _How long has he been out here? How much has he been smoking? _This was excessive, especially for Kakashi.

"Of course," he said. "I had one of Konoha's best treating my lethal wounds, didn't I?"

Sakura stared out at the sky, a smile playing on her lips. "So how did it all go?"

"Oh, you know. We saved the day. The villagers showered me with feasting and women. It's too bad you missed it."

"Damn. I always miss the god bits."

"Just so you know, we're still undercover. Ishikawa seemed eager to keep our secret if we kept his." He looked slyly at her. "It seems you know something about his performance that he doesn't want public."

Sakura swatted his arm half-heartedly. "Haha," she said, "Not funny."

"Mmm. He's agreed to comply with Konoha's agenda."

After a moment of silence, Sakura asked, "Was there anything in the study?"

"There might be something hidden in the house, but nothing that we could find. I expect that his mother burned any correspondences she and her husband had with the usurpers. Any remaining ninja fled. I think you killed their ringleader."

"So we don't know if it was Orochimaru or not?"

"No clue. From what Ishikawa's said – and from some valuables we've found – it would seem the family had ties to various conspiracies dating years back, but we can't be sure how many, which ones, or if any of those involved Orochimaru."

Sakura sighed and rubbed at her shoulders absently. "It seems like we'll never figure out the truth, then, will we?"

"Probably not," Kakashi said, in a way that indicated to Sakura that he didn't really care. She cast an irritated glance in his direction.

"Would you stop smoking that right next to me? I'm getting cancer just smelling it."

He surprised her by stubbing it promptly. "Are you cold?"

"A little," she admitted.

"You should go back in," he said.

Sakura looked down at her feet. She saw the three previously stubbed cigarettes, joined by the new one that still burned red-orange at its tip. "How long have you been out here? You could have come in, you know. You're recovering every bit as much as I am."

He sighed.

"Kakashi-"

"_-Don't_."

The sudden, forceful interruption surprised her into silence.

The echo of his name rang in her mind: _Kakashi._

"Kakashi," she said again, more softly.

He sighed and rummaged through his vest for another cigarette. She reached out and stopped him. Just the lightest touch on his wrist, but he stilled like her touch was fire.

She gave a fluttering laugh, born of nerves and the butterflies in her chest. It beat quick and shallow, like her heartbeat. "That's what I already call you in my head."

"Really," he replied. His facial expression looked like it had been made from plaster, carefully maintained.

"Really," she said. She hesitated. Her head was leaning toward his. His was leaning toward hers, an open invitation that she couldn't bring herself to accept.

"I'm not kidding. I-"

"-I know how you feel, Sakura," he said. He sounded tired, even to Sakura's ear. "And I've been wrong to encourage it in any way." A long silence. Slowly, he drew his head away. Sakura's hand, light on his wrist, began to feel like a statue's. She felt her smile slipping.

Poison was nothing compared to this.

"You haven't encouraged me," she said. "At all. I've thought – all this time I've felt so stupid. I've felt so _angry _at you, for never talking about it. But mostly I felt angry at myself."

He was silent.

"If I've saved your life," she said, very quietly, "Then who are you to say I can't care about you… this way?"

"I'm old," he said.

"Not really."

"I'm a smoker, Sakura. A smoker. You hate those."

"You don't smoke _that _often. You've just been on kind of a binge lately, because you stole Daichi-kun's cigarettes. I _told _you that was a bad idea."

For a moment he ran out of things to say. Sakura had actually expected him to mention his porn collection sooner. Hmm.

"You don't want me, Sakura."

"I do. Stop trying to discourage me."

"I'm-"

Sakura kissed him.

He tasted of warmth and smoke again. This time the crisp morning air mitigated the taste of cigarettes. It differed wildly from the chaste brush of lips she and Daichi had shared the day before. This was a rush, a thrill; her lips parted for him. He felt hot, burning to the touch. She caught her breath when he paused to pull her closer, close enough to feel his body heat. No half-hearted hands on her waist this time. Her fingers buried themselves in his hair. She pressed herself against him, wanting to feel him closer than close, and she caught the quietest moan between kisses.

Then he pushed her away.

"Sakura?"

"What?"

"… I think I'm sick."

"Kakashi," she said fiercely, "You have to accept this. You're not _sick, _or dirty, or-"

He took her hand in his and put it to his forehead.

She gasped, clapping her free hand over her mouth.

"You're feverish! Oh gods, you've been standing out here all night with a fever!"

_ix._

Terumi was sulkily silent all the way back home, but Sakura and Kakashi were happy enough to sit huddled on the seat next to her. Perhaps _that _was why the ride was so bumpy. Terumi, Sakura thought, was spiteful and petty. Even so, Sakura couldn't help but feel sorry for the pyrotechnician when she sniffled.

"Don't feel too bad," Sakura tried gently, "You'll get to visit him."

"You'll inherit," Kakashi said bluntly. Sakura jabbed him in the ribs, but he seemed not to notice it much.

"I'm not sniffling because I miss him," Terumi said irritably, "I'm sniffling because you gave me your goddamn cold."

"Oh," Kakashi said. "Well then. Perhaps they should disinherit you from their will, if you're going to be like that."

Terumi gave a wry, wistful smile. It only lasted for a second, but Sakura saw it nonetheless, and she could finally find it in her heart to sympathize with the older girl.

"I know how much he looks up to you," Sakura said, "He won't forget you. Or your family."

"Like _you _would know. How could he not?" Terumi asked bitterly. "He's going to be living in a damn _mansion. _He never liked living all the way out near the border, anyway. Or fireworks." In a very tiny voice: "Or me."

Sakura thought that this was probably true, except for the last part. "Trust me, he'll miss you."

Sakura glanced at Kakashi, who was smirking a little behind his mask. She could tell more easily, now, having seen his bare face. Or maybe she was just imagining it. She wiped her runny nose on her sleeve while he wasn't looking and thought of Daichi. Things made a lot more sense now. With Hiroto, too. Although his secret was going to be a pretty open one, at this point, he'd still cheerfully agreed to cooperate with Konoha nin in the future.

She laughed softly to herself.

"Ishikawa liked your fireworks plenty," Kakashi said.

Terumi 's mouth slipped into a bleak, proud smile.

"At least Daichi chose someone with taste," she managed. Terumi had sworn she had no inkling at all that Daichi wasn't interested in girls. _There'd just never been any around,_ she'd sworn to them, _so no one thought anything of it_. Sakura hadn't seen it either, until she'd noticed the way they smiled at each other awkwardly, hopefully. The way their touches lingered a little too long…

It surprised her how pleased she was by it, to be honest. She'd grown fond of both of them, and had worried a bit for Hiroto living alone in the house after all that bloodshed. He'd seemed shaken over the past two weeks. The only thing that had made him smile was Daichi.

Sakura dared to rest her head on Kakashi's shoulder. What they had was a tentative, nameless thing. He'd not touched her since their kiss the week before, though they'd slept in the same bed the rest of that morning (before Hiroto invited them all back to the manor), because they both agreed that the cot was horrid and the bed was warmer and _screw it, _they were both sick anyway.

Maybe it was because he had been feverish and she had been cold, but she had never felt something so warm.

Sakura didn't mind leaving things this way if they would calcify into something more tangible. Anyway, the namelessness alone didn't make it not-real.

Suddenly, she couldn't wait to get back to Konoha. The fact that she had (without sex, she'd like to add) created a glowing relationship between Konoha and this region of Rice would account for a glowing jounin recommendation.

"Your shoulder is bony," she told Kakashi. Muscular, too, but she wasn't about to tell him that. "It's not very comfortable." _He's still feverish, _she thought. He'd gotten the worst of it. Try as she might, Sakura's best answer for the common cold was still fruits, liquids, blankets, and lots of warm soup.

"I'm sorry for that," he replied mildly. "Perhaps you should find a less bony shoulder."

"No," she said, "I like this one."

Terumi stared hard at them. "Right._ Not_ a couple." She turned away, mumbling something that Sakura didn't care to discern. Sakura felt her eyes slipping closed. She felt herself being rocked to sleep by the cart.

"Do you two even _know _the story behind the Aki-hime?"

Sakura opened her eyes. "No," she said. "Weren't you going to tell us?"

Terumi sighed like she was doing them both a big favor, even though she'd been the one to bring it up in the first place. "I guess I could tell you," she said. "I can't believe you went through the whole festival without knowing."

"Let me guess: it has something to do with light," Kakashi said.

"It does," Terumi replied. "Practically the only reason anyone knows about the Ishikawa estate is because the legend originated there. That's why the Moonfire Festival is such a big deal."

Sakura really couldn't imagine a middle-of-nowhere estate like Ishikawa's getting any attention otherwise.

"In the legend, the moon goddess grows tired of living alone in the dark and promises a man – the first Ishikawa, as it so happens – that in return for light, she'll give him great wealth. The man agrees. He's not sure whether or not he believes she's actually the moon goddess, because she appears as a poor but beautiful traveler. But he agrees because he falls in love with her right away. So he gets the whole town to help him light candles and lanterns and everything, and they set them into the sky. The moon goddess is impressed and touched by the act. No longer lonely, she marries the man, gives him a large portion of her temple-lands, and bears him many children. She also immortalizes the light into the stars, so when she has to leave her husband – after his death – she never has to feel alone again."

Terumi looked out over the horizon. Sakura wondered if she was thinking of her brother, herself, or something else entirely. "Once a year, during the full moon, her husband visits her from the afterlife, and she'll make the moon shine brighter and more brilliant than any other time of year. But only if the people make enough light." She smiled a little. "I help make the light."

Sakura pondered. "So the Aki-hime is a sort of stand-in for the moon goddess?"

"Sort of. Actually, it's just a way for the Ishikawa to screw random women, but you know. Whatever works."

"Ah," said Sakura. She put her head back on Kakashi's shoulder and closed her eyes again.

For a moment, thinking of Kakashi, she thought that she understood why the moon goddess so loathed being alone.

She was half-asleep when she caught the scent of a smoke. She didn't say anything this time. There would be time later for thinking and other similar pursuits. At that moment her nose was pink with chill, her body wracked with a cold, and her mind at ease with its future. She slept peacefully until they got to the outskirts of Konoha.

_x._

When Sakura would recount that mission – the mission that got her a jounin pass - it always started with a bang. In the middle there was some quibbling, some blood, some darkness. At the end of the tunnel, a light.

It ended with a cigarette.


End file.
